Man Convicted in Stray-Bullet Killing of 12-Year-Old Boy
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A man accused of the 1995 slaying of a 12-year-old Little Leager as the boy stepped off a bus in Altadena was convicted Monday of second-degree murder, Pasadena district attorney’s officials said.
Errol D. Smith, 26, will be sentenced next month for the March 1995 slaying of Justin Richard, an Altadena seventh-grader who was struck by a stray bullet. Jurors deliberated for a day after a weeklong trial in which Smith’s attorney’s had argued self-defense.
Defense attorneys had argued that Smith fired after gang members threw rocks at his car. Prosecutors maintained that Smith had the opportunity to walk away from the incident, but instead turned and fired without regard for life.
Justin, who paused about 100 yards from his home, was hit in the forehead by one bullet and died at a hospital.
His death became the catalyst for community leaders to turn the tide against a wave of violence that had washed across that community.
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